Rumor numero dos will come as laughable to the people on bigsoccer who rejected this talk out of hand, but the same article has Andriy Shevchenko (Woohoooo!) to DCU after his two year stint at Dynamo Kiev is over. As much as I don’t want MLS to become a retirement home, I love Shevchenko. Consummate professional who would devastate MLS even at an advanced age. Professional goal scorer. Hope this happens.
Believability Scale :7/10
Probability Scale: 4/10

Starting 11
I think Soehn will come out with his normal 3-5-2 like so:

———————-Crayton—————————
————Burch—–Jakovic—–Namoff—————-
——————–Olsen—Simms———————-
——Wallace——————————Pontius——
————————Gomez————————–
—————Emilio———–Moreno——————

If this line-up looks familiar, its because it is the same line-up Soehn has been using all year and will likely never change. I can see Fred, Quaranta, and Barklage coming in for Wallace, Moreno, and Gomez in the 2nd half if we have the lead.

Tommy Talks some Smack:
I came across this quote today on the examiner website: “We thought about training in our parking lot to try to emulate what our game is going to be like,” said Soehn. “But there was a little too much gravel. It’s hard because even if we go onto our [artificial turf] field it’s not even close to how it plays there… it plays too much like grass.”

Hey Tommy, talking smack about the field at Giants Stadium before the game doesn’t count as a reason for you not to prepare the team and then use the turf as an excuse for us losing tomorrow

Fred missed a sitter early in the first half, and Quaranta was not playing his best, despite what Goff’s ratings may tell you. If his goal was to enable others, then we was adequate. If his role as forward was to score goals and be dangerous, he didn’t do as well. He missed 1 easy chance, and 2 or 3 that he should have buried. As a longtime Tino supporter, I suspect he’ll do better as he gets more fit.

Brandon Barklage played the game of his life. He was tenacious in the middle, found himself in the correct spots, displayed Rod Dyachenko like foot skills, and of course, took his chances at goal and found the back of the net. I think we may have found the potential replacement for Gomez, either as he fades at the end of games, or next year.

Milos Kocic got his first start, and it began somewhat rocky. In his first two clearance attempts, the ball went away from him and he was almost caught out. On his third chance, he muffed the ball, and had to be saved by headsup defending. He made 2 or 3 saves, and was saved by the rulebook, after Kenny Cooper’s penalty came off the post and he illegally buried the rebound.

The defense of Greg Janicki and Bryan Namoff was top class. The attempts at defense by Marc Burch however, were not. Unable to string short passes together, and needing repeated bailouts by Janicki, Burch may be playing his way out of the starting LB spot once Avery John gets fit.

MATCH RATINGS: Kocic 6, Burch 4, Janicki 7, Namoff 7, Jacobson 6, Fred 6, Quaranta 5, Pontius, 5, Barklage 8, Khumalo (4 in the first, 7 in the second), McTavish 6 SUBS: Moreno 4, Peters 4, Wallace 5, Jakovic 6

Below Highlights;

DC came out and dominated the first half, scored their goal, and went into halftime with a lead.

They came back out a different team, and were hurt by a mistake by backup keeper, Josh Wicks. Sloppy passing, poor shot selection, and questionable decisions by DC players led to the draw and to the feeling of disappointment that was evident in the crowd at RFK.

Speaking of the crowd, it as a little sparse. The loud side was taking care of business and standing for 90, but the quiet side was dead, and not very populated. Disappointing for a home opener. Do better next week, people.

Bryan Namoff. What were you doing? I counted at least 4 or 5 times where Namoff carried the ball way up into the attack and was caught in possession. I apologize to Bryan if Tommy was asking him to do that, but if not…c’mon.

Benny was fantastic, and the little episode with Blanco which isn’t being talked about anywhere was awesome. Basically, Blanco ran into Ben, and Ben pushed him off. Blanco then faked jab stepped around him (which made no sense), and then Ben shoulder charged him. He was already on a yellow, so I thought that was his Zidane-esque moment of madness, but the referee yelled at Blanco to stop diving. Hilarious.

I tried to twitter updates, but I can tell you right now, that isn’t going to happen. Sorry. Follow the DCUnited twitter updates, they get paid to not watch the game.

Thoughts?

This Sunday, United travels to the Home Depot Center to visit one of the sadder cases in MLS in the last 2 years, the Galaxy. LA, who have been reorganized and retooled an extent by former USA and DC United head coach Bruce Arena, are moving forward this year with a more “experienced” team than last year, with an average age around 30. This never bodes well for a long season, but its better than playing Josh Tudela every game.

LA strengthened its backline through the draft, picking Omar Gonzalez, and thru the transfer market, picking up Donovan Ricketts, the Jamaican National Team keeper.

Goldenballs is set to return in July, and until then, LA is free of the obligation of his salary. However, they’ve yet to spend that money. So, it’s just a gap in their team.

Landon Donovan, fresh off of his German adventure, brings the only constantly threatening force to a team that will be lacking in attacking bite.

Dema Kovalenko has been added, most likely for his oftsited “grit” in the defensive midfield. But enough about LA.

DC travels across the country, already with its usual complement of injuries. Not making the trip, Santino Quaranta and Fred are already sporting hamstring injuries that will keep them out at least until the home opener, in Fred’s case, and the Houston game, in Santino’s case.

Louis Crayton and Bryan Namoff, who suffered leg and rib injuries respectively, will be fit and in the starting lineup on Sunday.

All week, Tom Soehn has said that he expects that DC will come out in a 3-5-2, at least until their attacking width is healthy. Below would be my expected lineup…

Crayton
Namoff———Jankovic———–Burch
Simms—McTavish
Khumalo—Gomez—Wallace
Emilio—-Moreno
I’d like to see Moreno as a withdrawn Forward, in sort of a dual playmaker roll with Gomez, but we’ll see how it rolls forward.

Links and OPO:
Sports Illustrated says that DC will finish in last. I will eat a soccer ball if that happens. The text for those who don’t want to boost SI’s ad revenue..

• D.C. United will finish in last place. Christian Gómez is back, but he lost his form a while back. Gómez and Luciano Emilio formed a strong partnership in ‘07, but two years later, the two players are fighting to recover from poor seasons. D.C. had a terrible regular season but managed to win the U.S. Open Cup. That triumph set United up for failure this year, as it once again will compete in the CONCACAF Champions League, a tournament that sunk D.C.’s regular-season hopes in ‘08.

Soccer America thinks DC loses to LA this weekend.

The Examiner offers all you need to know about the game, including injury updates for both squads (Ricketts, Buddle questionable, Lewis probable, Todd Dunivant and Leonard Griffin (who?) are out. )

MLSNet’s Charles Boehm has a nice piece about the young defense, and the decision to go with the 3-5-2. Here’s Benny,

“The 4-4-2, sometimes with a young back line, it’s confusing,” acknowledged Olsen, moments after his tongue-in-cheek attempt “to duck what formation we’re going to play this weekend” drew laughter from the media in attendance.

“Sometimes three in the back makes it a little bit more concrete for them as far as their decisions,” he continued. “But we’re working on that stuff this week and the coaching staff will take care of that.”

Steve Goff’s paper preview.

Donovan is still sleeping over at DCenters. I’m sure he’ll having something up soon.

Ok, that’s it. It’s game time, huahh!

Official Prediction!!!

The Official DC United Offside Prediction: 3-2 DC.
Your thoughts?

Clyde Simms looks to be resigned next week, according to the Goff. Also in that post, the subtle hint that Bryan Namoff may not be returning. All I have to say is he better, cause my girlfriend is sporting his jersey thanks to me and the GREAT sale at United’s online store (link here).

Two random people may be coming to DC according to Spanish language reports. Walter Martinez and Jocimar Nascimento. *Yes I know MLS Rumors is stupid, but its the offseason, what do you want?

Jeff Carroll got waived. Eh. Do we even really need a link for that?

First Kick weekend got announced, with DC to open the season against LA at HDC on March 22nd. First home game is against San Jose on March 28th. So, start the countdown.

And that’s really all there is. The Superdraft is next month, and we’ve got some good picks. Will DC deviate from its usual plan of picking players who won’t play for cheap? Will the changes in salaries rules change the way the draft affects player selection? We shall see.

Poplar Point Perspective, following D’s lead, has written an interesting piece about the incredible disappearing Fred. I think he’s right when he says that the expectations on Fred are much higher due to his talent levels, and that fans expect him to finish the chances he creates. Fred was a goal scorer in Australia, and he was in 2007. He can be again. He just needs a confidence builder. Next time we get a penalty (that won’t decide the match), let Fred take it. I know that won’t happen, but I think it could break his duck, and snap him out of this string of sitters he’s squandered.

Goal.com has an interview with Bryan Namoff here. I read the interview, and thought it was incredibly stupid, until I saw this disclaimer at the beginning…

Remember those Choose Your Own Adventure books as a kid? Well, our latest feature is basically a Choose Your Own Interview. We contact one player or coach each week, tell him to choose 10 numbers between 1 and 200, and then ask him the corresponding questions from our long list of 200 random questions. If the interviewee selects his numbers wisely, then it’s a piece of cake. But if he selects a question that’s more difficult and, perhaps, a bit embarrassing to answer … hey, unlucky, son.

Makes much more sense now.

There really isn’t anything else to talk about. It’s Fourth of July weekend (aka death of blog readership) so I won’t be back until Monday. Enjoy your break. Eat more than you should.

Where to begin? Oh, I know. Greater than the win, or the crowd, or beating Becks. Ben Olsen, heart and soul of DC United, stepped back on the pitch for the time this season. Did he look great? No. Did it matter? Not at all. It was an amazing sound when Benny stepped back on the pitch, as the Barra and every fan who know was going on stood up and cheered Benny. It was wonderful, and the most emotional moment of the day.

As for the rest of the game, you can’t argue with 4 goals. The first half was spotty at time, and more goals should have been converted against a spotty LA defense. I felt bad for Cronin, because not too many goals were his fault today. Donovan had a gripe with Gallardo, and the fourth official is a blind man, which was good for us. Fred was again poor, with no real positive impact on the game. Peralta, who many BigSoccer people have problems with, is an all or nothing player. He always seems to either make a big play, or make a massive blunder. As a midfielder, you can get away with that sometime, but as a centerback, those mistake often translate directly to goals. Zach Wells did much better today, with three strong saves that I can remember.

Ratings: Wells 7, Martinez 8 (He locked Becks down), Peralta 5, McTavish 6, Namoff 7, Quaranta (NR), Burch 7, Gallardo (there will be a big post about him this week) 7, Fred 5, Simms 6, Moreno 8, Emilio 9, Dyachenko 6, Olsen 100 (I know, I know. More like an NR, but, it’s my blog so whatever)

What did you think?

I don’t need to remind you of the lack of success DCU has had against Mexican sides in the past. I have tickets to this game, but I’ve gotten really sick in the last few days since my trip, so I’m going to have to watch from home. Hope the rest of you go, and pack the joint.

Here are a few links.

Goff’s WaPo preview.
A Washington Times piece on my new favorite DCU player, Santino Quaranta. From the sounds of it, I think Niell has become a bench option.
The Examiner…erm…examines Zach Wells’ past with Pachuca.
An ESPN preview.

Apparently, our boy Bryan Namoff will be doing a chat with ESPN, so everybody join in there. Let’s hope he’s a little more net savvy then Ben Olsen was last time he did a chat for WaPo. Just kidding.

Also apparently, having three professional sports teams play in the same city on the same night causes traffic problems. Who knew?

Official Prediction: As much as I’d like to see a miracle, I see soul crushing sadness. DCU 2, Pachuca 1, Pachuca advances on aggregate. Goals by Quaranta early on, Jaime Moreno (who’s return I think is huge) in the second half, and a late goal by Pachuca to steal the game.

Hope I’m wrong.

Your guesses?

Well, after avoiding doing this for 2 weeks, I think it’s finally time that I have to do this. So, here you go peoples, the super brilliant season preview written by yours truly.

Nuts and Bolts — If you’ve watched any MLS since about 1996, you’d know that (aside from a few dark years) DC United has been one of the most successful teams in league history. Last year, we started off very poorly, and there were calls coming from the internets for Tom Soehn to go away. But then wins started rolling in, and we ended up with the Supporter’s Shield. In every other league in the world, that would mean we were the undisputed best, and the team would ride off into the sunset with a big trophy. But since we’re backwards here in the good old US of A, that wasn’t it. We had “playoffs”. All I’m gonna say is, I didn’t have a team I disliked before then, but afterwards, Chicago was on notice. And they still are. Don’t think I haven’t forgotten!

The star: Who is our star? I wouldn’t say we have a STAR, we have many valuable pieces that without, I don’t think the team could find success. We’ll start at the top. 2007 Golden Boot winner, Luciano Emilio. Every good team needs a poacher that wants to score goals, and do nothing else. And that’s Luci. If it’s a 2 on 1 with the keeper from 3 yards (as you saw against Harbor View), Luci’s going for it. Jaime Moreno (THE ALL TIME LEADING SCORER IN MLS HISTORY) is a shadow of his former self, or at least I can say that after he got hurt after 15 minutes in the first leg of CONCACAF. Stretch it out, man. There’s the obvious choice, Marcello Gallardo. After seeing him in person, I’m a believer in this guy. He’s not going to score more than 5 or 6 goals, but as long as the teams plays the ball on the ground through the middle, he’s going to be a star.

DP or not? And how will that affect the team?- See above. We got one, and he’s fabulous.

The newcomers: Half of the team. First and foremost, Gallardo. We’ve already talked about him.
My favorite signings were the Flying Gonzalos (Martinez/Peralta). These guys are SOLID in the back line. I’m talking Vidic-Ferdinand, Terry-Carvalho tight. I have a feeling if we’ll be beat in the season, it’ll be on the wings. But that won’t happen too often because Namoff and Burch are also excellent.
Franco Niell, the midget wonderstriker, will be called upon often, but hopefully will not start. I don’t think he has the size or strength to compete in the MLS, and will most likely just aggravate me by flopping all over the place.
Zach Wells is not overly impressive or flashy, but will get the job done. I’ve come to think that goalkeeper in the US is an easy position to fill, as long as you don’t put Jay Nolly in there.
Jose Carvallo, a goalie we signed because his mom said so, could be good, but I’ve never seen him. But his Mom said he was, so he probably is.
Quevas Kirk, who we aquired in a sneaky trade with LA, will provide good depth and speed when he’s on the field, which will be rarely.
Santino Quaranta, reaquired, will be a star this year. Mark my words. Then there are the draft picks, Ryan Cordiero, Dan Stratford, and random signings who I don’t have much to say about, like Pat Carroll, Jeremy Barlow, possibly Cesar, Jeff Curtin…etc, etc. Maybe when the season actually starts, I can talk about these people.

Keep an eye on: Santino Quaranta. Acquired for almost nothing, people have never disputed his talent. He has senor USMNT caps at 18 for god’s sake. If he keeps focused and healthy, he’s going to tear this league up.

We’ll win the league if…? Jaime can contribute at least 3/4 of what he usually does, Gallardo stays healthy despite the hacking he’s going to receive, Increased secondary scoring from the midfield and bench forwards (I’m looking your way, Kpene), and Emilio and Fred play the way they’re capable, we will absolutely win the league. Playoffs….I don’t know.

We’ll be in trouble if…? Jaime continues to fall apart, Ben Olsen doesn’t recover from offseason surgery, Quaranta starts goofing off and stops caring, Niell plays like he did against Harbor View every game, and Emilio doesn’t get the easy chances he needs to score.

You might not know… I already mentioned one but…
1) Our backup keeper, was recommended to the front office by his mother.
2) If we had kept Brian Carroll in the offseason, we’d have three freaking Carroll’s on our team (Still have Pat, and Jeff).
3) Luciano Emilio has a really crappy website that never gets updated, fails at being bobbyboswell.com.